One woman died and five people, including two children, were
injured when a suspected drunken driver drifted into on coming
traffic on Watsonville Road south of Sycamore Drive early Sunday
morning.
One woman died and five people, including two children, were injured when a suspected drunken driver drifted into on coming traffic on Watsonville Road south of Sycamore Drive early Sunday morning.
The accident occurred at 12:35 a.m. when a 1990 Toyota Corolla driven by Terry Jean Ralston, 53, of Freedom drifted into the northbound lane. She had been driving south. Her auto collided with a 1998 Honda Accord driven by Jose Hernandez, 28, of San Jose.
Ralston suffered major injuries and was taken by helicopter to Stanford Medical Center.
Hernandez and three of his passengers, including one girl, 3, and a boy, 4, and Olivertha Suastegui, 33, all from San Jose, were taken to area hospitals for treatment of minor to moderate injuries.
Maria Suastegui, 62, of San Jose, who was a passenger in Hernandez’s car, went into cardiac arrest following the accident, the CHP said. Emergency personnel were able to revive her at the scene. She was air lifted to Saint Louise Regional Hospital where she died.
Ralston was arrested on felony charges for driving under the influence. The California Highway Patrol is investigating other possible charges. According to Officer Brad Voyles, the situation is complicated and will depend, largely, on the coroner.
According to Voyles, is cases where a driver has a heart attack and the car crashes, the CHP doesn’t rule it an accident. In this case, however, because the heart attack victim wasn’t driving and she suffered the attack after the crash things are gray. He says once the autopsy is completed, the CHP will have a better idea of where they should proceed.
Voyles says the CHP has to look through related court cases and consult with the DA, the coroner and legal experts before any more charges can be brought. He says that at the minimum, Ralston will face the DUI charge.
